In the process of manufacturing integrated circuits and semiconductor devices, electrical and other functional testing is often performed at various stages during the manufacturing process. Probe cards are one type of test structure used to perform electrical tests. The probe cards make contact to certain areas of integrated circuits, usually to contact pads or solder bumps, during the testing process.
The semiconductor industry trends towards miniaturization of semiconductor devices and device circuitry, which results not only in smaller integrated circuits or chips, but also in reduced power consumption and faster circuit speeds. Semiconductor devices with very small array pads or solder bump configurations are currently used for many applications. As semiconductor devices decrease in size, it becomes more difficult to perform electrical tests because of the smaller pitch or spacing between contacts on the die. The assembly and manufacturing process of conventional probe cards presents several problems and is prone to errors, due to the small scale of the wiring and array pitch. Guide plate manufacturing, guide plate assembly, and probe handling damage due to the extremely weak probe structures for fine pitch applications are just a few of the problems faced by conventional probe cards.